Would you buy a car from this guy?

**Lowell** · October-20-09, 11:36 PM

Has the attempt use GM President Ed Whitacre as pitchman, ala Lee Iacoca, been quietly shelved? I saw one, maybe two, ads then no more.

Now I am sure Mr. Witacre is a wonderful, sincere and brilliant person, but did anyone else shudder at the visual image of this aging gentleman with a slight croak in his voice, being hoisted as the new GM? The phrase, "This is you father's Oldsmobile" crossed my mind when I saw it. Didn't work for me, does it work for you?

Can someone, maybe one of the contributors in the Advertising in Detroit thread, explain the marketing angle of this ad and the target audience?

**stonechipped** · October-21-09, 06:26 AM

Just another GM blunder is what this old guy is. GM better run as fast as they can and hire whoever is doing Honda Motor Car Company of America's advertising.

**rid0617** · October-21-09, 06:38 AM

He did his level best at ruining Bellsouth down here which resulted in the AT&T merger. Will never understand how he was picked to run GM now

**iheartthed** · October-21-09, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by stonechipped

Just another GM blunder is what this old guy is. GM better run as fast as they can and hire whoever is doing Honda Motor Car Company of America's advertising.

Or they could get whoever is doing the Fusion and Taurus commercials.

**gazhekwe** · October-21-09, 07:53 AM

I like that 60 day guarantee! They should have showed him with some of the vehicles, not walking around in the building.

The age thing didn't come up for me, a lady of a certain age.

**gnome** · October-21-09, 07:59 AM

isn't this the guy that Mr. Obama's car czars put in place? If you have a problem with his vision I think you should take up your issues with Washington.

**pffft** · October-21-09, 08:19 AM

I had the same reaction. Nothing against my Southern friends too, but he had this good ol' boy accent on top of everything. Incredible...
Maybe, possibly, if they had a handsome, vigorous old guy like Bob Lutz out front, they could skate by. But not this fellow, however good or bad an exec he is.
The spokesperson doesn't have to be young, but come on...younger than that.

**Johnlodge** · October-21-09, 09:11 AM

He's no Mike Rowe.

**DetroitPlanner** · October-21-09, 10:08 AM

I have heard he was pulled out of retirement and picked as a temporay President by the Obama team. He never planned to make this a long-term job. Perhaps he has already announced re-retirement or they are grooming the next guy?

**One Shot** · October-21-09, 10:39 AM

And believe thats how those design studios work everyday too... Cool cars all over, sharp dressed people hustling and bustling all over the place. Ya GM is doing well. Look how busy they are! Back in the day when car companies were run by car guys/girls is when they had a chance. Nowadays its just people trying to up their standings on the Forbes list.

**detroitbred** · October-21-09, 11:43 AM

When I saw this add, my reaction was, What a Dud....is that the best they could come up with? His accent made him hard to listen to, and he isn't exactly a "10" ya know. Maybe those thing shouldn't matter, but he just didn't make a good impression on me.

**Ray1936** · October-21-09, 12:08 PM

Most TV car ads are stupid. Some of these yo-yos with Master's degrees in marketing should really go back for some remedial schooling. As detroitbred states, "What a dud!".

Lee Iacocca had charisma. His ads worked Whiteacre has little. Doesn't take a mental giant to see that.

**One Shot** · October-21-09, 07:13 PM

At least Iacocca was a CAR GUY!

**Jimaz** · October-21-09, 08:07 PM

Looks like a case of too many "yes men."

A good executive keeps a few trusted "no men" nearby to catch these things before they air.

**Johnnny5** · October-21-09, 08:12 PM

Perhaps they have the same ad agency as Sam Bernstein?

Retroit · October-22-09, 12:43 PM

According to Bob Lutz, who was interviewed right after this commercial came out, this was a one-time deal.

I have no confidence whatsoever in Ed "I don't know anything about cars" Whitacre. Same for Fritz Henderson. The only one who seems wise enough is Bob Lutz.

They need to kick out all the Harvard MBA finance types and put engineers in charge. Same goes for all manufacturing companies. This is how most foreign manufacturers are run.

**Swimmaven** · October-26-09, 11:51 PM

Whew.

His first sentence is a negative, . . . I had my doubts . . ."

Lose the suit. Get some hair dye. A contemporary hairstyle for mature men and fashionable glasses, not wire rims.

I imagine the ad agency had too much input from the GM toppers.